


Curse of the Black Cat's Ring

by SpaghetCat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Based on the original plot concept, Can't be bothered to use the accented E, Changed a few minor aspects of the canon, F/M, Felix as Adrien's older brother, Felix as Chat Noir, Kagami and Marinette are housemates, Kagami as Ladybug, Kagami is an exchange student
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28083027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaghetCat/pseuds/SpaghetCat
Summary: Felix hadn't seen anything wrong with trying out the curious-looking ring he found in Adrien's room after their first day of school. He will promptly be smacked halfway to hell for that decision, resulting in a curse, superheroics, a partner, and cheesy attempts at flirting with questionable sincerity.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Félix Graham de Vanily/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Of Rings & Cats

**Author's Note:**

> So I came up with this idea when I heard the original concept plot for ML; Felix is cursed with the ring of the black cat until he's kissed by his true love. I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome.
> 
> I did a bit of tweaking, given that Bridgette is basically just proto-Marinette, and I decided to give the Ladybug Miraculous to Kagami instead. Not only because then I get two awkward, sheltered dorks that like to act slick, but then I get to have my cake and eat it too by having Adrienette on the side.

Felix’s day so far had been a strange one, for sure.

He hadn’t expected to go to school when he woke up, expecting another dull day of tutoring and acting sessions with his aunt. Nor did he expect that his younger brother to be the driving force behind their father’s decision to enroll them.

Probably not willingly, either, if Felix knew him at all.

But there he was, sitting in the back of a classroom listening to a teacher talk about French medieval history, a topic he’d already covered in the 4th grade.

It was almost surreal, how fast he’d been dragged from the cold, professional mansion to the school. It felt almost more homy than home itself. The most realistic part of this whole situation to Felix was how Adrien helped up an old man before they entered the school.

They’d had to introduce themselves to the class in the beginning, though Adrien had actually covered the bulk of the talking part, with Felix just bluntly stating his name.

Surprise surprise, having a teenage model and actor, both of which one of the most recognizable faces of Paris, was quite the event.

Even from Felix’s seat in the back, overlooking all the other ones yet unable to see anyone’s face, he could tell that his and Adrien’s rather abrupt appearance had sparked a lot of discussion. Felix narrowed his jade green eyes, giving an internal sigh.

If there was one thing he hated, it was publicity. Rather ill-suited for a famous teenage heartthrob, really. Interactions with other people were usually handled by the younger of the duo; it was no secret Adrien was the more social out of the two.

Of course, that played to his strengths in most cases. This was one of them.

While Felix had opted to take an empty seat in the back with no strangers next to him, Adrien had decided to try to make a new friend and sat in the front next to a tanned boy Felix hadn’t gotten the chance to really even commit to memory.

“Charlemagne was coronated in what year?” the teacher asked, turning to the class. Felix’s mind produced the result as if on command, though he didn’t raise his hand. Instead, his eyes were more focused on the clock.

If the schedule handed to him was any good, lunch break would be coming up in a few minutes.

“Eight hundred CE,” one of the students replied, drawing Felix’s attention back to the class.

“Very good! Do any of you remember which Pope did the coronation?” the teacher’s eyes glanced over each student, checking for a knowing look or anything of the sort. After a short, yet awkward silence, she randomly called someone out.

“Felix?”

And of course that’d be him.

“Pope Leo III,” Felix stated matter-of-factly without much thought. History had been one of his better subjects, though he often wondered how much of that came from a genuine passion or just being relentlessly drilled by tutors.

“Correct! Pope Leo III coronated Charlemagne emperor on December 25, 800. Of course, due to Charlemagne’s mostly symbolic position, this would lead to a cycle between future Emperors and Popes, with neither holding the higher authority,” the teacher stated, drawing a small infographic on the chalkboard.

“This would naturally oftentimes lead to Emperors and Popes getting into conflicts, each one trying to establish themselves as the higher authority,” the teacher explained, adding a few dates above the infographic.

She opened her mouth to say more, but was quickly cut off by the bell. The teacher quickly dismissed them, with Felix not needing to be told a second time. He quickly made his way to the first row to meet up with Adrien to try to figure out what to do next.

Of course, it got a bit messy in the last half, since everyone was trying to leave. With it being the first day after Christmas break, everyone was a bit out of practice, so it was somewhat akin to a free-for-all. Felix tried flattening himself against an aisle to avoid colliding with some goth girl, but that ended with him nearly crashing into another girl, this one with a cup of coffee in her hands.

On her part, she tried swerving to the side to avoid Felix, but that ended up with the drink no longer in her palm. Instead, it’d dumped all its contents on Adrien.

Everyone involved froze for a moment, trying to compute what had happened in less than three seconds. Adrien’s usually golden hair was stained brown, with a dampened circle forming around his collar. After said moment, the girl began apologizing, looking rather panicked.

Of course, Felix didn’t even need to say anything, with Adrien’s good-natured chuckle cutting through her rapid-fire apologies, “It’s fine. It’s nothing a shower and change of clothes won’t fix.”

“O-Oh. Are shue yure? I-I mean are you sure?” the girl stuttered out, wringing her hands nervously.

“Really. No harm done,” Adrien assured her, scratching the nape of his neck.

Felix narrowed his eyes at the two, with the girl now a blushing mess and Adrien looking a bit awkward even if unbothered by the coffee. He gave a very unsubtle cough to get Adrien’s attention.

“I’ll text Gorilla to bring a towel in the car,” he stated, pulling out his phone

Adrien grinned, “Thanks, Fix.”

“Don’t call me that,” Felix replied, not looking up from his device.

“It’s my nickname for him; he acts like he hates it but he secretly loves it,” the blonde couldn’t help but glance up and see Adrien leaning over to the girl, hand obscuring her ear as if he was telling a secret one took to the grave.

He gave her a once-over as he pressed the send button. Black hair to the point where the light shined blue off it framed blue eyes, looking very distracted. Of course, her extremely red complexion didn’t escape him.

Felix just hoped the blush was from embarrassment; the last thing he needed to do was watch his younger brother awkwardly stumble around the girl, unaware of her feelings.

\---

Felix quietly stepped into Adrien’s room with a plate of food. As expected, the younger blonde wasn’t present. The sound of a running shower gave Felix a good enough idea of where he was, though. Adrien’s change of clothes was neatly folded on his table, alongside something else.

Placing the plate of food on the table, Felix inspected it.

It was a small, octagonal box, made out of black wood with red highlights in the shape of a dragon. It also had some weird symbol on the top, which definitely didn’t seem like any one of his father’s designs. Was this some random prop from one of his projects that his aunt had forgotten here?

Doubtful; his last film, _Cogs of a Fallen Titan_ , had wrapped up the acting portion several months ago.

Curious, he gently grabbed it in his hand. It felt almost weightless despite it being big enough to cover his entire palm. Was it some old trinket Adrien had bought somewhere? Maybe merchandise from those shows he was always watching?

He noticed a small hinge on the back. So it could be opened?

Felix gently pushed the top half, seeing it slowly rise, revealing its innards. He could almost feel the snap of his attention being dragged solely to that single little box.

He glanced inside, finding… a ring?

As he looked at it, it seemed more and more like a prop of some sort from a movie. It was a ring, black as the void. A singular acid green pawprint sat on top of it, nearly glowing in the dim light caused by the lid.

Felix had the urge to put it on. He didn’t know for what reason, but the blonde felt like the ring was speaking to him somehow. Telling him to wear it.

Not seeing what harm it could do, he did.

Of course, he didn’t expect for a black cat to pop out of a green bubble that appeared in midair as soon as he put it on.

“What the fuck are you?” Felix had no idea how to respond to the tiny cat creature that had floated out of the ring, his mind not even registering his rather intense language.

“ _Excuse_ me,” the creature drawled, sounding rather annoyed, “I’m the god of destruction and chaos. Cheesed to meet ya, name’s Plagg. Do you have any camembert?”

Felix blinked for a few seconds, staring at the tiny god, “You’re a _what_?”

“God of destruction and chaos,” the creature grunted, “Didn’t you hear the first time, kid?”

“Is this some sort of elaborate prank set up by Adrien?” Felix quirked an eyebrow, still mulling over whether this was really happening. So far, he’d come up with three theories: this was either a very elaborate prank, he was having a fever dream, or he was flat-out going insane.

“Adri-who?” the god lazily asked.

Felix frowned, “Adrien. Adrien Agreste. You’re in his room. He’s taking a shower right now.”

“Wait, if I’m in his room,” Plagg murmured a few things to himself before gasping, “You’re not my holder!”

Felix raised his hands defensively, taking a few steps back, “Relax.”

Of course, this only really let Plagg get a better look at the plain silver ring on Felix’s finger.

“Take it off. Right now,” Plagg demanded, looking genuinely angered.

“Calm down, I was just curious as to what Adrien had brought home,” Felix stated, eyes narrowed, “I’ll take it off.”

The tiny god let out a small harrumph, crossing his arm-nubs in midair.

Felix grasped the ring, moving to take it off.

Except it didn’t budge.

“What’s the hold up? Just take it off, kid, not that hard,” Plagg grunted, not looking too impressed.

Felix gave the ring a firm push, narrowing his eyes, “It won’t move.”

Of all the reactions he was expecting of Plagg, a long, exasperated groan wasn’t one. The tiny god flopped over in midair just for added affect.

“What?” Felix couldn’t help but ask, continuing to try to take the ring off to no avail.

“I was really hoping I could avoid this happening for at least another few hundred years,” Plagg groaned.

Felix silently stared at the god, urging him on. After a few seconds, Plagg caved, “You’re not the one chosen by whoever hands these out, so the ring automatically locks onto your finger so you can’t just hand it over to any potential enemies.”

“So… I can’t take it off,” Felix stated, staring at the plain silver ring on his finger.

“No,” the god reaffirmed.

“Is there a way to undo it?”

“There is…” Plagg drawled, “But you’re not going to like it.”

Felix stayed silent, eyes narrowing.

“True love,” Plagg grunted.

“Wait, _what_?” Felix’s eyes widened, brow furrowing.

“You heard me; true love. Specifically true love’s kiss,” the tiny god crossed his arms, “Lucky for you, it shouldn’t be too hard if you play your cards right.”

“Meaning?” Felix was still trying to process the prior statement, considering putting it on the backburner for a second.

“Well, the ring gives you superpowers and a suit. Chances are that if I’m active, so is Tikki, since you can’t have one without the other,” Plagg said.

“So…” Felix was already coming to several conclusions, just wanting Plagg to confirm whether any of them were founded in any sense of reality.

“You get a partner. And since Miraculouses oftentimes cause the two people wearing them to be soulmates, you shouldn’t be too hard pressed to get the girl to like you enough to kiss you,” Plagg snorted, floating upside down.

“And after she kisses me,” Felix couldn’t believe what he was saying, “I get to take the ring off?”

Plagg nodded, adding on, “And then give it to the rightful holder.”

Felix could only give a small noise of exasperation in response, though he didn’t get to say much else as the Adrien abruptly appeared in the bathroom doorway, clad in a bathrobe.

“Felix?” he asked, confused.

For the first time in recent memory, Felix nearly jumped in surprise. His eyes glanced to where the Kwami had been a second ago, only finding a few bubbles in its place as confirmation that Plagg had even existed in the first place.

“Came to drop your food off,” he said, quickly coming up with a lie as to whatever had taken him so long, “Got distracted with the view. Paris looks especially nice in the winter.”

“Yeah, it does,” Adrien smiled, “Well thanks, but I gotta change now. You mind?”

Felix shook his head, hurriedly walking out of the room and heading to his room. No doubt, he wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night. Whether it’d be because of his own pre-occupied thoughts or Plagg’s incessant pestering was to be determined.

**x---x**

“Oh my god!” it was probably the sixth or seventh time Marinette had said that in the past five minutes but she’d quit counting fifteen minutes ago.

“You’ve been saying that a lot,” Kagami spoke across the table, silently slurping her noodles before continuing, “May I ask why?”

“Ohmigod!” Marinette blathered before processing the exchange student’s question.

She’d become rapid friends with Kagami despite her somewhat cold nature since the start of the school year, when she’d first showed up as that foreign exchange student from Japan. She could barely speak French back then, but after Kagami staying at her house for close to half a year, she had a better handle on it.

“I just spilled coffee on Adrien! Adrien Agreste! Adrien _frickin’_ Agreste!” her voice was reaching pitches that shouldn’t be humanly possible.

“And?” Kagami prompted, eating some more of her noodles.

“What do you mean, ‘And’? That’s Adrien flipping Agreste! Professional model! Son of Gabriel Agreste!” Marinette couldn’t help her reaction, brain running on adrenaline for a while now.

Kagami pointed her chopsticks at Marinette, “That fashion designer you enjoy?”

“Like,” Marinette offhandedly corrected, the two used to on-the-fly corrections by now, “And yes! The son of Gabriel Agreste! In my school!”

“If you bumped into Adrien Agreste, who was the other yellow-haired boy?” Kagami asked, curious, “His brother?”

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded, “Felix Agreste, I think. Pretty big figure in the theater scene here. Not really my thing though, I’ve never liked movies all that much.”

“Are you going to eat that?” Kagami gestured to an untouched croissant next to Marinette’s plate of quiche.

Marinette shook her hand, sliding it over, “But still. Adrien Agreste goes to our school!”

“I heard you the first time,” Kagami deadpanned, biting into the croissant.

The Japanese girl’s attention was brought to her skirt’s pocket when she felt a small buzz from her phone. Curious, she pulled it out and turned it on. She was confused for a moment, as there weren’t any messages or calls.

That is until her eyes landed on the battery. She internally winced at the 22% left.

“I’m going to go charge my phone,” she stated, standing up.

Marinette nodded, and with that, she left. Kagami had been living in the prior guest room, though now it’d become her full-time residence. It was rather neat, Kagami never liking any sort of clutter, no matter whether it was intentional or not. A few shelves, a wardrobe, desk, rug, and bed was all she really needed, and kept cleaning easy.

It was all near immaculate, which made the black box on her desk stand out even more.

With her interest piqued, Kagami walked over, placing her phone on the left end and quickly plugging it in, she grabbed the small box and opened it. She didn’t really know what she was expecting, but earrings weren’t it.

She gently picked them up, looking them over. They looked like ladybugs, with black spots on a red field.

Did they belong to Marinette or her parents? She doubted it, since neither Marinette or her father had pierced ears, and her mom only ever wore one out of four pairs she owned.

They were rather pretty though. Even if they did belong to someone else, it wouldn’t hurt to try them on. With that, she put them on.

Of course, she wasn’t expecting a tiny ladybug goddess to appear.


	2. Explanations

There were things that Felix understood as natural laws, even if unspoken.

The Earth was a sphere, the Moon was real, and mass took up space.

One of those laws had been that humans can’t turn into animals. But, of course, he must’ve not gotten the memo, because as he looked in the mirror, he didn’t see Felix, the blonde teenage actor and occasional model.

He only saw a black cat, with vivid acid green eyes, and streaks of yellow in his fur.

The boy - er - cat was astonished beyond words, having to look down at his paws to even believe what was happening.

“Plagg?” he mewed, looking around for the kwami, who had mysteriously disappeared when he had said Claws Out.

A small, magical pop emanated in his ears before Plagg abruptly appeared in front of him. No longer was the Kwami smaller than Felix’s fist, but bigger than his entire head. He could see every minute detail on the tiny god’s form, from his short, black fur, to every little twitch of his ears.

“Yes?” the smaller cat grunted, looking much more tired than before.

Felix opened his mouth to speak, but froze before he could get a sound out. His mind paused when he realized just how crazy he’d sound, but he continued anyways, “Why am I a cat?”

Plagg waved his arm-nubs dismissively, “It’s just the Miraculous getting used to a new wielder, testing the compatibility. Everything’s going fine, though. No surprise, since I’ve yet to have had an incompatible wielder of any kind.”

“I thought I was getting a suit,” Felix stated, glancing over his lithe feline form, “Not an entirely new body.”

“This is just one of the powers of the Miraculous of the Black Cat, one of the rare few Miraculouses that actually let you transform into your animal counterpart. You can transform into a cat at will. Same goes for transforming back; just will yourself back into human form and you’ll see your suit,” with that, Plagg abruptly disappeared into a green bubble. It then promptly burst, leaving nothing behind where it once floated.

Felix had to stare at the space that Plagg had occupied for a few moments before his mind fully processed the words.

“So… I just will myself back to a human?” he mumbled to himself, staring at the feline in the mirror.

He closed his eyes, trying to hone in on his human image. His blonde hair, pale skin, and jade green eyes.

When he opened them again, his paws were gone; replaced with five-fingered hands, ring snugly position on his left ring finger.

Instead of being bare, they were covered by gloves, near pure black, with a golden vine pattern on the back adding some flair.

He glanced up to the mirror, already sensing the difference in height and weight from his previous form.

Felix had a moment of panic when he saw the same pale green, acid-tinged eyes staring back at him before he noticed what was framing them; a black domino mask with the same golden vine designs as his gloves.

His usually neat golden hair had grown out a bit, seeming a bit scruffy but still overall tamed. Black leather cat ears stuck up from his head, twitching and moving as if real ones. Not believing his eyes, Felix reached up to feel them, astonished by how he felt his own touch on the extra appendage.

His eyes were then brought to the black sleeve that covered his arm, switching to the mirror to see his outfit.

A thin, black coat covered his torso, with a golden design sliding down his sleeves from his collar. It was open, revealing a dark grey vest underneath, with a white shirt visible under the vest if he moved his arms a bit.

A belt sat around his hips, going under the coat and around the vest and securing it. He was surprised to find that the back looped itself into a knot, with a fully-functional cat tail being made out of the long stretch of belt hanging loose at his back.

His legs were covered by loose town pants, abruptly stopping at around mid-ankle, giving way to cuffed leather boots with gold accents.

The first question that popped into his mind was why he was dressed like a Victorian man. If he thought about it, it made some sense. Having been born into a fashion mogul’s family, he’d had access to almost all types of clothes, and he’d taken a liking to a more classical style early on, believing it made him look more mature than he had been at the time.

If the suit was unique to the wearer, it’d make sense that it’d act as an extension of either what they wore in their day-to-day life or how they viewed themselves

In general, it gave him less of a superhero feel than he expected. If anything, it felt more like something he’d see at an opera. He wasn’t really complaining, though. Fit him well enough.

Despite himself, a small smile graced his features,

He started moving a bit, acting as if he was on the catwalk to see how well it adjusted to his movements. Near perfectly, it seemed, somehow even ignoring the restrictive nature of the real thing. Felix even managed to stretch a bit without the clothes bunching up or tightening in uncomfortable places.

This was also how he came to notice the baton on his back.

It looked a lot like a cane, with black leather wrapped around the bulk of it. The top was of golden-colored ivory, same going for the bottom. In the middle of the leather wrapping, a small hole was present, with the same acid green pawprint as his ring.

It seemed more like a button, in all actuality, though before he got the chance to press it, a knock at his door nearly made him jump out of his skin.

Felix was barely able to call off the transformation and hide Plagg before the door opened, revealing Nathalie with her iPad.

“You have five minutes before having to return to school, Monsieur Agreste,” she calmly stated, only quirking an eyebrow as to why Felix was in front of the mirror.

“Thank you, Nathalie,” Felix did his best to respond in his normal, rather monotone voice, knowing that attempting to explain his somewhat odd reaction would only seem suspicious despite what his base instincts told him.

After all, no one explained what they were doing if it was totally normal.

With one final glance at the younger Agreste, Nathalie walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

**x---x**

Kagami could barely believe her eyes, watching the tiny red and black spotted creature pop into existence in front of her face.

Despite its sudden appearance, it seemed way too human-like and innocent to really register as a threat to Kagami. Perhaps it was its human blue eyes, or its very human mannerisms.

“Hello!” the creature chirped with a lilted voice.

Oh, and also the fact that it talked.

“Uh… greetings?” Kagami didn’t really know the proper way to address… whatever it was.

The creature zipped around Kagami’s head, clapping together her arm-nubs, “I’m Tikki! I’m your Kwami, what gives you superpowers and your suit, though you were probably briefed on all that already.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Kagami replied, becoming more curious by the minute. Superpowers? Kwamis? She didn’t waste any time, “Can you tell me what a Kwami is?”

“Hmm..” the Kwami put an arm-nub on their chin, “I guess that different time periods and situations call for different approaches.”

“I’m sorry?”

The Kwami steamrolled over that question, “I’m a Kwami; specifically the Kwami of creation, embodied by the ladybug. We’re as close to a god as you can get.”

“We’re?” Kagami asked, “There are more of you?”

“While I’m not at liberty to say a whole lot, yes, there are. In fact, speaking of other Kwamis, I forgot to tell you about your partner,” Tikki smiled.

Kagami wanted to ask a question, but she had so many she didn’t know which one to ask. Despite that, Tikki continued.

“He’ll have his own Kwami; Plagg, the Kwami of Destruction. We’re two halves of the same whole, so we need to be active at the same time otherwise bad things start to happen,” the Kwami explained with the same cheerful tone.

“So you talked about superpowers?” Kagami asked.

“Yes! And a suit to keep your identity hidden, as is required for all users of the Miraculous,” Tikki nodded, “From both the public and your partner. You can’t tell anyone who you are.”

Kagami blinked, “That’s… a lot to take in.”

“Yes, though it’s all a bit simpler in practice. Speaking of which, I think you should try on your outfit!” Tikki smiled, “The words are Spots on and Spots off.”

Kagami mentally shrugged, deciding to follow the god’s advice, “If you say so; Spots on.”

In a red flash, Tikki had disappeared, and Kagami felt a surge of power flow through her veins. She felt so much lighter and nimbler, but also stronger. She looked down to see that her attire had changed too. Curious, she walked over to the mirror above her dresser. A red and black-spotted domino mask surrounded her eyes, and her hair was a bit longer and freer.

The biggest change was her clothes; no longer was she wearing her standard “school uniform”, but instead what she found was something resembling a kimono. Her red top had long, flowing sleeves with a black line running to her side from her collar, pointing where it was folded.

Her waist had a black sash, and below that was a hakama dress in vivid red with black spots and accenting. It stopped a few inches above her feet, revealing black-edged tabi boots

What really drew her eyes, though, were the large beetle wings sticking out of her back. They felt almost as if they were a part of her, Kagami able to control them. She could even fold them under two presumably ladybug-colored beetle-style covers that she felt.

She then noticed the yo-yo wrapped around her waist. Curious, she snapped it off, holding it in her hand. It was a disc, looking a bit more like a frisbee on a string than anything else.

“Tikki?” Kagami asked, realizing once more that Tikki had disappeared.

With an abrupt pop, Tikki seemed to materialize into existence.

“Yes?”

“Why’d you disappear?”

The kwami gave a hum, “Your suits take up energy to maintain. If we stay inside the Miraculous, it’s negligible to the point where one could spend several weeks in the suit. But if we go outside, our direct connection is severed, taking up much more energy to maintain it. The further we get, the more energy is used.”

“Oh, so you can just leave the suit whenever I need you?” Kagami tried memorizing the rules of the suit as she spoke, having reached the point where her reactions were little more than blasé.

Tikki shook her head, “Only in desperate emergencies or, as in this case, when I still have to teach you the ropes. This uses up a lot of energy that really doesn’t need to be utilized, so it’s best to minimize my time outside the Miraculous.”

“Understood,” Kagami nodded. Tikki abruptly popped out of existence in a similar manner as to how she popped into it in the first place.

She turned her gaze back to the mirror, and then the earrings, mumbling, “So I have a partner…”

Kagami was interrupted by her phone vibrating, blue eyes snapping to the screen. It was an alarm to get back to school.

“ _Kuso_ ,” she grunted, “Spots off.”

Tikki watched Kagami hurriedly grab a purse to hide the Kwami in, “Can you get some cookies too? I need them to recharge my energy.”

The Japanese girl gave a distracted nod, unplugging her phone.

“Are chocolate chip cookies acceptable?” Kagami asked.

Tikki gave a nod, zipping into the purse.

Without another word, Kagami hurried out the bedroom door with the Kwami safely tucked away.


End file.
